Red Headed Runaways
by Sweetdeath04 and Thorney
Summary: Even at the age of five, Fred and George are unable to abide by the rules. After a nonaccidental accident in Ollivanders Wand Shop, the Twins end up running straight into an adventure of their own!
1. Escapology

Disclaimer: We tried to buy the Harry Potter rights off JK Rowling but she turned us down saying our offer of three cookies wasn't enough. So, obviously, we don't own it! We'll get her….

**Red Headed Runaways**

**Escapology**

"Now, you lot!" Molly Weasley meant business as she jabbed her finger at her offspring. "No wondering off! Diagon Alley is very busy today- everyone getting all their shopping for the new school year! So, it'll be very easy for children like you to become lost!"

All seven of the Weasley children rolled their eyes, even little two year old Ginny. This wasn't the first time they'd heard the lecture from their mother, and there was no doubt in their minds that it wouldn't be the last.

"Understand?" she finished on a threatening note.

"Understand what?" said Fred, "I tuned out hours ago!"

"I was never tuned in!" his twin, George stated dully behind him.

Mrs Weasley ignored them and turned her attention to the more important matters in front of her.

"Now Charlie we need to get you a wand! How exciting dear, your first wand! And Billy, you need all your new books, third year is a big year you know!"

"Mum," Bill said morosely, "You think every year is a big year!"

Mrs Weasley started to walk in the direction of the wand shop, "Teenagers!" she tutted. However she was nearly drowned out by Charlie, Fred, George and Ron's gasps as they dived towards Quality Quidditch Supplies. Charlie let out a whistle of approval as he stared at the Cleansweep Five shining in the window. A trickle of drool ran down his chin.

"It's so beautiful!" He whispered hoarsely.

"Charlie, you're drooling," George stated.

"But it's so-"

"Beautiful, we know." The Twins said together.

"You're only four! You're not even old enough to own your own broom!"

"Mum's not gonna buy you that either," Ron's high voice pitched through the argument. "_First years are not allowed their own broomsticks,"_ He quoted the letter which had been read out in their house only a few weeks earlier.

"You have a mind of useless information!" Fred said spitefully to his little brother. The twins may only have had four years of experience, but they had already developed the wit that would be their trademark in years to come.

Tears welled up in little Ron's eyes, and he tightened his grip on his teddy bear "I already said I was sorry Fred. I didn't mean to break it!"

"Yes you did! That was _my_ broom!"

"I was only a toy!" Charlie rushed in to stop Fred taking Ron apart, "Mum will get you a new one!"

"Deed I will not!" Mrs Weasley's harsh voice split the air. "Fred, your father fixed that broom. It's as good as new!"

Fred stared at the ground and muttered angrily, "When it was new it didn't try to buck me off!"

"You can't keep blaming Ronald. It wasn't his fault that the wall was there!"

"But it was his fault he flew into it!" Fred retorted.

Mrs Weasley looked scandalised. "Fredric Weasley, don't you dare give me up that cheek!" She was using _that _voice. _That_ voice, which meant that the second he got home he would no longer be graced with the pleasure of sitting without pain.

Mrs Weasley had had enough, "Come on everyone, to Ollivanders we go! Chop chop! We can come back later, let's go!"

It took them twice as long to get to the wand shop than it should have. Despite Molly's lecture, the Weasley children couldn't stay together for more than a couple of minutes. Ginny kept releasing herself from her push chair and making brakes towards Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour. Bill was determined to visit Gringotts Bank and insisted without luck that he was old enough to go on his own.

"I'm not allowing my Thirteen year old son to go to a building full of goblins on his own!" Molly told him before pulling him on, "Wait!" she suddenly exclaimed, "Where's Charlie!"

It took them almost twenty minutes to track down Charlie. When they finally found him, he was deep in conversation with the shop keeper of the Magical Menagerie about the best ways of repelling Kappa attacks.

"RIGHT!" Molly yelled as she dragged _all _of her children down the street, "WE ARE GOING TO OLLIVANDER'S! NOT GRINGOTS, OR FLOURISH AND BLOTTS ANYWHERE ELSE! OLLIVANDER'S, NOW!"

The children walked in pairs, heads down and not speaking- well, that's how it appeared. Fred and George were already planning their next break for freedom, and it included going to Ollivanders first, so they wouldn't complain just yet.

"George," Fred hissed, "I think we can kill two birds with one stone on this little escapade!"

"Ronald?"

Fred nodded, "Ronald."

………

The family entered the tiny shop. It was a tight squeeze to fit one adult, seven children and one pram in. They rang the service bell and had not been waiting long before Ollivander appeared in his usual fashion- out of no where. There was no trace of Apparition or any kind of transporting spell. That was just his way.

"Good Afternoon," Ollivander scanned the faces with his white eyes. Eventually, they settled on Charlie, "Ahhh yes, I thought I'd be seeing you soon Charles Weasley. Getting your equipment ready for your first year? Yes, Yes…." He trailed off and started to take long slender boxes off the shelves.

"Here we go," the old man thrust a wand into Charlie's hand. "Dragon Heartstrings, mahogany, 12 inches."

Charlie took the wand in his hands and whispered to himself, "I am a _wizard_! Not a baboon brandishing a stick," he repeated while he waved the wand with no obvious effect.

Ollivander snatched it off him and threw another one at him.

The Twins were already bored but couldn't hope of running off as Mrs Weasley was watching them like a hawk. The novelty that they always got from entering Ollivanders shop had worn off, and it had turned from a place of wonder and mystery to a shop filled with cardboard boxes with sticks in them.

It was when the pile of wands that Charlie had been trying had reached the height of Fred's head that Charlie found his wand, much to the joy and relief of Mrs Weasley. Red sparks erupted and filled the air. But the second their mother's eyes had left them, the twins put their plan into action.

They spoiled for choice when it came to weapons. The wrong wand in any wizards hand can be a dangerous thing, but the twins didn't care. Very subtly they pulled two boxes off the shelves and opened them. Mrs Weasley and Mr Ollivander were too busy making a fuss of Charlie to notice.

Fred pointed the wand at Ron and thought hard. He didn't know very many spells and he certainly didn't know any that would be of any use here.

On the other side of the room Bill was complementing Charlie's wand. "Wait 'til you see! You'll be turning your enemies into spiders in no time," Bill laughed in an off handed tone.

"Bill!" Mrs Weasley admonished him gently.

But it was enough for Fred. Pointing the stolen wand at Ron's back, he quietly said the spell that he had heard of from his eldest brother. But before it was completed, Ron turned around. The jet of light flew out of the wand as Ron let out a terrified scream.

Ron dropped the thing that had once been his teddy bear. It was now huge, wriggling, and black with had eight legs. Screaming again, he flew backwards into George, whose wand hand was knocked backwards.

BANG!

Three rows of shelves exploded and boxes of wands cascaded down on them, drowning them.

Fred and George didn't care. They were already gone. They had run out the door as quickly as they could, without dropping the wands.

Molly yelled after them, "FRED! GEORGE! GET BACK HERE NOW!"

People in the street just watched as the red headed runaways darted past them. They didn't bother to stop them or even to tell them they were heading towards the worst place imaginable, Knockturn Alley. The twins turned the corner and were gone.

Molly, Bill, Charlie, Ron and Mr Ollivander just stood in the doorway of the shop, completely stunned. No one could speak, except Ron who was bawling his eyes out.

Mr Ollivander finally broke the silence, "Molly, I'll look forward to the time when those two will be receiving their first wands… it will be an interesting experience."

**A.N Hello! WE ARE BACK! With our first ever Harry Potter fic! We have been doing a lot of researching into character ages and we hope it's accurate enough! If you don't know us already we'd like to do what we always do at this point in the A.N…BEG for reviews. So if you would be soooooo kind.**

**Thank you very much. We don't have a clue where this fic is going but no doubt we will eventually…we always do…well usually….well ok sometimes…once maybe?**

**Anywho, enough of us… hope you enjoyed it, blahdy blahdy blah….**

**See you!**

_**Thorney & Sweetdeath04**_


	2. Welcome to Knockturn

Disclaimer: We don't own nothing. Double negative in Ulster dialect is still a negative so technically 'we don't own nothing' is grammatically correct. We don't own nothing!

**Welcome to Knockturn**

The twins were running so far and fast that they didn't have time to watch where they were headed. As they flew past various shops, they sent outside displays flying off their stands and knocked their keepers violently aside. People stared as the two small redheads darted past their knees. For all Molly's shouting nobody had the sense or the courage to stop them.

Fred was leading, carving a path through the busy crowd. George was hot on his heels, terrified of being separated from his brother. They were in enough trouble already; the last thing they needed was to become lost. Unfortunately, that was exactly what was happening although neither of the twins were aware of it. Then, in one movement, the twins went from being mildly confused about their general location to being hopelessly lost and in grave danger.

Fred took a sharp left near Gringotts. George followed him and they continued to run down the dark and damp street. If either of them had looked up at the lopsided sign that declared the name of the alley they had just entered, they would have most definitely chosen a different path. Knockturn Alley was no place for children.

Knockturn Alley was a derelict version of Diagon Alley with the exception that it was dedicated to the Dark Arts. Fred and George came to a sharp halt outside a shop that had a window display of shrunken, severed heads, and they instantly got the feeling of dread, one that senses when they are being watched. The occupants of the other shops were turning their heads to see the two bright specks of red in the otherwise grey street.

"George," said Fred nervously, turning to his twin, "I think we're a wee bit lost!" The witty, joking tone of his voice was gone, replaced with an unaccustomed emotion that sounded suspiciously like fear.

"Just a 'wee bit'?" George asked, his tone identical to Fred's.

Fred didn't trust himself to speak without screaming so just nodded shakily. George, on the other hand, took as deep breath and whispered, "Well, we're not in Diagon Alley anymore, that's for sure."

This statement crushed any hope that had survived in the twins' hearts into the ground. The circumstances seemed entirely desperate.

Their despair was suddenly interrupted by the menacing barking of a dog. Up until now, the only souls that had been in sight had been inside the shops. Now however, at the end of the streets the twins saw a man coming towards them slowly. He seemed to be limping very heavily and he was oddly lopsided. Although his face was hidden by shadow the twins weren't interested in who he was. They were too busy focusing on the enormous dog that walked by the man's side. It was taller than they were, so that they could have walked under it without the top of their heads brushing its stomach. It had an enormous head that carried an enormous jaw and therefore the twins decided it must have enormous teeth. Its eyes were wild and so was is fur. The twins were reminded of the stories that Bill used to tell them about the grim. Before now they had never believed him.

"Be ye lost laddies?" the man rasped. His accent was so thick the twins struggled to understand him. George was about to answer 'yes', but Fred got there first-

"No," he said simply sounding braver than he felt, "We're just…waiting…for our big brother. He's an Auror." Fred's lie was unconvincing, but the man did hesitate.

"Is he now?" the man took another step towards them into what little light there was. He was filthy and untidy, with bloodshot eyes set deep into a damaged and lined face. The dog growled deeply in its throat.

"Quiet Brutus," The man hissed at the dog, "You'll scare the boys."

The boys were already scared. What did this man want? George was eyeing the dog very closely. The man noticed and spoke directly to George, "He won't touch you boy. He's a pussy cat!"

Quick as a flash the man reached down and unfastened the lead from around Brutus' neck. Just as quickly, the dog ran at them and began to bark again, bearing its teeth. Fred had time to think, 'Some pussy cat!' before his instinct took over and he and his brother were running again.

They could hear the dog chasing them and they knew they could never out run it. Their muscles were getting tired from all the exercise they had been forced to do.

Suddenly a group of wizards materialised in front of them with a small pop. The twins didn't have time to stop and ran headlong into them. There were about five new men in the alley now. They all looked down simultaneously at the small children with whom they had collided.

Fred looked up into the face of the man he had run into and staggered back in fear. The man's face was horribly scarred. There was a large chunk of his nose missing and his eyes didn't match. On closer inspection, Fred found that the bright blue one was not original. His mouth was a lopsided gash and his hair was grey and grizzled. He glared down at Fred with menace that seemed to come to him naturally.

George did not receive such a fright. Compared to the man that Fred had run into, George was being held by a relatively normal man. The man was tall with black skin and dark robes. George noticed that he had a wand clutched in his hand and a twitch of fear fluttered in his stomach.

There were three other men standing just behind them that were partially hidden from the twins gaze but Fred and George knew that all five of the men were watching them. For a few moments, the two parties stared at each other. Finally, the man whom Fred had crashed with opened his mouth and said with what appeared to be a smile, "Well, it's about time you two got here!"

**A.N Hello! It is the summer holidays! That means you are gonna be seeing a lot more of us around. Whether that is a good or a bad thing is another question. Well we don't have much to say, just that we hope you enjoy and thanks to all who reviewed last chapter. Keep it up!**

_**Sweetdeath04 and Thorney**_


	3. Mistaken Identity

Disclaimer: We tried to buy the Harry Potter rights off JK Rowling but she turned us down saying our offer of three cookies wasn't enough. So, obviously, we don't own it!

**Mistaken Identity**

The twins stood dumbstruck. What were they supposed to do? Answer the man? Their mother had always told them never to talk to strangers…but then again they knew it was wrong not to answer when you were being spoken to… and besides, since when did they listen to their mother!

"Yes…" Fred said gingerly, "Sorry we're late." It was a risk. He had no idea who he was supposed to be!

"'Sorry' doesn't make you hex proof, Theron…" the man with the gnarled face paused and raised an eyebrow. "I assume you're Theron?"

"Of course I am!" Fred said. He was scared out of his wits, but it could not have been less obvious from hearing his voice.

The man then turned to George, "So that would make you Caden. Excellent! I'm glad the ministry finally came to its senses and sent someone who could help me handle this situation properly. By the way," The man had one eye fixed on each of the twins, "Your disguises are brilliant. Superb really! They even fooled my eye. Anyone who didn't know would think you were four year old boys!"

"Five years old!" George corrected without thinking.

The man chuckled, "Into character already! Brilliant. Wouldn't you agree, Kingsley?"

"Best costumes I've ever seen," agreed the black wizard with the minimum amount of enthusiasm.

"Thanks!" Fred said missing the lack of honesty, "We worked on them all last night!"

To his surprise all the wizards started to laugh at his remark. Fred knew it was with him, not at him.

"Ah! Theron, you and that humour!" said the scary looking man. With that he grabbed the twins by the shoulders and started to lead them away. "Enough chit-chat though, we need to get a move on or we'll be late…" he said cryptically.

The twin's exchanged looks. Late for what? Fred's _amazing_ powers of deduction were screaming at him, '_It's a party! A fancy dress party! If it wasn't, they wouldn't have commented on our costumes!'_

George was thinking along the same lines as his sibling. '_If there's a prize for scariest costume, it'll go to that guy there!' _George looked over his shoulder at the man who was pushing them along. '_He wouldn't look like that otherwise…'_ George's sub-consciousness remarked while studying the mans face, then glancing down at the wooden leg.

Fred looked around at the other wizards who were all sporting grim expressions. If this was a fancy dress party then they were taking it very seriously. _Too_ seriously…

The twins continued to think about the extraordinary situation that they had got themselves into this time as they were steered through the street. Finally, they approached what seemed to be their destination. It was a very dilapidated building, located on the narrowest part of the street. The man pushed them roughly through the broken door of the building.

He and the other wizards led them up some very unsafe stairs and along an old dusty landing. Not a word had been spoken up till now.

"This is our base of operations. We've been watching him from here for the last four months. With no heating. Still it will all be worth it if we get him today!" the scary man said as he stopped by the door at the very end of the landing.

Fred and George didn't know what this man was taking about but they knew that Theron and Caden did, and until they could be themselves again, Fred and George Wesley were Theron and Caden.

"Remember," the man warned, "This operation is highly classified. We're all on a 'need-to-know' basis here. Understand?"

The twins nodded mutely, but neither of them had the foggiest idea what they were supposed to be understanding.

The man pushed the door open. The twins struggled not to gasp. Inside the room looked like the set to a muggle sci-fi show. Contraptions of all shape and form littered the room with two grown adults doing something akin to playing with them. But George had a feeling that these were not toys. Some of them looked threatening and others looked positively dangerous. However some were just strange.

The one the twins took most notice of was a mirror, but this didn't show the room's reflexion. Dark figures were skulking in the background of the glass. None were close enough to make out their features…however as the party moved past it to get into the room, Fred noticed one figure was closer to them than all the rest.

"Hello!" the man who had been at one of the machines turned around. He had an enormous smile on his face displaying slightly horse-like teeth. His hair was dark and windswept. It came down to just below his ears. He had a small beard and a moustache cut in a goatee-ish kind of way. The twins' first impression was that this was a very nice guy. He just gave off good vibes!

He approached them, offering his hand, first to the scary man, and then to the younger man at his side.

"Mad-Eye! Hello! Up to your old tricks again, I hear! Kingsley, long time no see buddy! And…" the man looked down. "Oh! I didn't know it was 'bring your kids to work day'! If I did, I would've brought my Damien! Oh, he'd be a great play-mate for you boys!" The man looked up again at the wizard known as Mad-Eye. "Are these yours, Mad-Eye, you old tiger! Well, if I'd known-"

"Asher!" The wizard called Kingsley was chuckling softly, "Let me present Aurors Jimmy Theron and Robert Caden. They've been called in especially for this assignment."

The talkative man, Asher, was now staring down at the twins in embarrassment. "Oh- oh so sorry!" he mumbled. "I could've sworn- I'm sorry, it's just that you look exactly like a pair of four-"

"Five!" the twins chorused.

"-Five year old lads!" Then, with a pleasant smile, "In character already I see. Good, good!"

Fred and George could do nothing but smile back.

"Anyway!" The man's jovial tone was back in full gusto. "Let me introduce this humble little pocket of intelligence! I'm Asher MacCall but you can call me Asher. Or Boss, I like to be called Boss!" he winked roguishly.

Mad-Eye knelt down- a difficult fete with a wooden leg- and whispered in the twins ears, "Whatever you do, never _ever_ call Asher, Boss. His ego's been inflated enough." He smiled as innocently as was possible up at the glaring Asher.

Asher coughed pointedly before breaking into another great grin and grabbing the other, much quieter, adult that had occupied the room before it had been invaded.

"And this," he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "is my assistant, Risa Sharp!"

The young woman with dark hair and an angular face smiled down at the twins and at the aurors. She was extremely pretty. Her eyes were almost grey in colour. This and her relatively pale skin made a stark contrast to her hair.

"Assistant, eh? Well, that's better than what you said yesterday," she gave him a nudge in the ribs as he looked guiltily at the dusty floor.

"What did he call you yesterday?" Mad-Eye smirked.

"His… personal secretary." Risa drawled with venom. Asher squirmed nervously as Mad-Eye's eyes fixed on him.

Risa nodded in his direction then said to Mad-Eye, "Can't you have him sacked or something?" but a small smile played on her lips.

"Wish I could Sharp, wish I could, but the harsh fact remains that MacCall is the brains of this operation."

The girl snorted, "Yeah, that must be why we haven't caught Nox after chasing him for three years!"

Asher looked up, "Risa, my dear, I'm hurt! I'm deeply wounded! You don't know how sharp that tongue of yours can be!"

At this point, somehow the entire party knew that it was time to get down to business. No words were spoken but a silent order was issued for everyone to go to their prospected jobs. That left the twins in the middle of the room staring around them. They didn't know their job, they didn't really have one.

Thankfully, Asher addressed them, "I suppose you were briefed by HQ?" he said, "You probably don't need to hear it again from me."

"Actually," Fred said, hit by a sudden brain wave, "HQ didn't tell us anything!"

"We don't know why the sent us!" George said with a small laugh, "I'm sure we can handle it!" he added quickly, "But it would be nice to know what we're up against."

Asher looked slightly surprised and even slightly shocked, "You don't know why you've been sent here! That's not very good of HQ to send you to the front when you don't know what you're fighting." A wicked grin crossed his face.

There was silence in the room as he pulled up a chair.

"Well, sit down gentlemen; sit down, because you're in for a story. Now, gentlemen," they could almost see the stars in Asher's eyes as he began, "this man you're after- to be honest, he's one of the least known dark wizards of our time, but that doesn't make him any less lethal, perhaps he's even more so… Let me tell you the story- nay! Nay! _The Legend_… of Darcy Nox!"

**A.N. **_Hello again! Told you it would be August before we could write again! Sorry about that! But now that we're done with various places; Scotland, Finland, Belgium, England, Ireland and even a crazy island in the middle of nowhere where if you drink the rain it turns you fluorescent pink!_

**Thorney: I was there!**

_Sweetdeath04: Is it possible that this was a dream?_

**Thorney: Maybe!**

_SD04: So why aren't you pink now then?_

**Thorney: It wore off…**

_Anyways, we're back now. Thanks very much for LC who wrote the end of this chapter with us._

_Please read and review!_

_**Thorney and Sweetdeath04**_


End file.
